Low loonie closes custom bakery

Nancy Martin, owner of S&S Sweet Creations on Capital Drive in Charlottetown, displays recently one of the last batch of cupcakes she will make at her shop. Due to the value of the Canadian dollar and the tough economic times, she is forced to close her store, but she will continue to make cupcakes part-time from her home.

A retail location hasn’t been as sweet for business as baker Nancy Martin had hoped.

Martin, who owns S&S Sweet Creations Bakery with her fiancé, Daniel Grant, has announced the store will be closing its Capitol Drive location permanently. The store’s final day open will be Sunday, Jan. 24.

Martin said the decision to shut down the store, which specializes in custom cakes and desserts, was “heart-breaking.”

“It’s been a dream of mine and it kills me to close it," said Martin, "but the business isn’t over."

Martin said she will continue making custom orders on a part-time basis.

“I just want to thank people. A lot of it has been word of mouth, but everyone has been really supportive.”

Martin said she’ll also be honouring any orders that have already been placed for the store, including wedding orders for this summer.

While the store enjoyed a popular reputation for unique and tasty creations, it was limited with a poor location for walk-in traffic.

Increasing food costs caused by a weak Canadian dollar have also played a part in the closure, said Martin.

“It’s the type of business where people don’t eat it every day,” said Martin, who had to limit her store’s hours over the past month in order to work a separate day job.

“We thought about expanding but we were already pretty much doing everything we could without hiring … I ended up getting a lot of different orders, and it would stop me from trying to expand and I still had to keep a stock in every day.”

Martin, who is a self-taught baker, made special cakes and desserts as a hobby before she found herself creating special orders for customers.

She said her desserts attracted customers because they were made completely from scratch with “real ingredients”. She also offered gluten-free products.

“We knew it would be a little hard. Things were fast at first and slowed down,” she said. “It’s the nature of the business, unfortunately.”